Control systems and associated methods have been developed to provide automatic, or autonomous, control of vehicles, such as automobiles. These systems and methods allow for the vehicle to drive itself on the roadway, using various sensors to identify the roadway, navigate on the roadway, and avoid collision with other vehicles.
Such systems are typically able to switch between at least an automatic mode, in which a computing device controls operation of the vehicle, and a manual mode, in which the driver controls the vehicle. When errors occur in the automatic operation of the vehicle, the control system may need to switch over, or be switched over by the driver, to manual mode. Often, this switchover can occur with little warning to the driver. Other times, the driver must determine when the system is in error and cause the switch to manual driving.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a control system and method which informs the driver as to the operation of the control system in automatic mode. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.